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CHARLOTTE -- A Charlotte waitress was fired after complaining recently about a customer’s tip on social networking giant Facebook.

“A lot of companies take the position you are an agent of the company 24 hours a day,” explained Kenny Colbert, the Employer's Association.

Colbert says more and more companies are taking courses on social networking policies because more employees are talking about work on the Web.

“You have to be careful,” he said. “Companies do not want employees talking about their customers, their products, their financial information or anything in a negative light about the company.”

Colbert adds that companies are not getting into any trouble by obtaining this information because it's public knowledge. There are ways to make profiles private, and leaving those filters open allows anyone to read what you write.

North Carolina is an employment at will state, so employees can be fired at the company's discretion for an infraction such as a Facebook faux pas.

“Firing you for social networking and blogging, that is not protected by law at this particular point,” said Colbert.

There are a few cases involving text messages and use of company phones and computers going through the Supreme Court now that could set some legal parameters for employers and employees.